Garamendi's Tollgate

Updated Nov. 29, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

One unfortunate consequence of the Enron mess is that it has emboldened too many politicians to extract dollars and headlines by attacking business as a class. The star of this show has been New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, but now giving him a run for everyone else's money is California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.

Mr. Garamendi has scored his latest victory, if that's the right word, with his political exploitation of the Anthem-Wellpoint merger, a $16.4 billion deal that would create the largest...